Las Vegas Poker Rooms Shed Plexiglass, As MGM Vaccinated Workers Go Mask-Free

Posted on: May 17, 2021, 03:37h. 

Last updated on: July 19, 2021, 03:03h.

Larry Henry Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Gaming Business, Legislation, Politics, Regulation.

The plexiglass dividers separating players at Las Vegas poker tables are coming down at many casinos. This is occurring as MGM Resorts joins other casinos in allowing vaccinated employees to work without masks. 

Bellagio Resort
A poker dealer controls the action at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The Bellagio and other resorts have removed plexiglass dividers between players. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

On Saturday, the Orleans Hotel and Casino added its name to a list of Southern Nevada poker rooms in removing the dividers placed at tables to guard against the spread of COVID-19. The Orleans is just west of the Strip, behind Park MGM and T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.

Plexiglass has also come down at poker tables at Caesars Entertainment properties on the Strip, including Bally’s, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, and the Flamingo, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.  

Other poker rooms, including at MGM Resorts hotel-casinos, have removed the dividers. These resorts include the Aria, Bellagio, and MGM Grand.

Station Casinos properties, such as Boulder Station, Red Rock Resort, and Santa Fe Station, have taken down the plexiglass, the newspaper reported. The poker room at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas on the Strip also has removed the dividers at poker tables.

Vaccination Checks Not Required

As poker rooms are taking down plexiglass dividers, fully vaccinated guests have been granted permission to enter casinos across the state without a face covering. 

The Nevada Gaming Control Board said it is up to each property whether to check that a customer has been vaccinated. The board is not going to require or prohibit these checks.

Some hotel-casinos also are allowing inoculated employees onto the property without a mask. 

On Monday, MGM Resorts became the latest resort company to permit fully vaccinated employees to work without wearing a mask.

People are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after going two weeks since receiving a single dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, or two weeks after the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. 

In the US, 47.4 percent of the eligible population has received at least one dose, while 37 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Casinos at Full Capacity

Also this month, many casinos in the state, including Las Vegas, have been allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity.

The Gaming Control Board permits casinos to operate at full gaming floor capacity if management can verify that 80 percent or more of the  workforce is vaccinated against COVID-19. The resorts also can remove plastic barriers at table games and slot machines. 

MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment were among the first to begin operating casinos at full capacity. These two companies own resorts on both sides of the Strip.

Other Las Vegas Valley resorts were allowed to open their gaming floors at full capacity. These are the Strat Hotel, Casino & SkyPod, and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The Wynn Las Vegas and adjacent Encore also are open at 100 percent gaming floor capacity.

Station Casinos properties throughout the valley are operating at full casino capacity, as is the Silverton Casino Hotel. The Silverton is near Interstate 15, south of McCarran International Airport.